Rudra no Hihou: Return of the Dark Ones
by Wildcat Jason
Summary: (DISCONTINUED) It's been almost 4,000 years since the events in Rudra no Hihou, and the world couldn't be better off... Unfortunately, the beings the 4 Greats faced are preparing to make a comeback...
1. Prologue: Return of Evil

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Rudra no Hihou

Return of the Dark Ones

It had been nearly four thousand years since the four Jade Warriors defeated Mitora, and all seemed to have gone well. Once more, Danans, Mermaids, Reptiles, and Giants flourished, but this time together and with the Humans. Four thousand years of natural regrowth with no worries of having to be faced with another Rudra arrival had done the Great Earth well.

The Jade Warriors still lived, their Jades had given them longevity... Unfortunately this was as much of a curse as a blessing... Foxy, Ture, Legin, Sok, Garlyle, Pipin, Marina, and Cid all gone, age had caught up with them. Ramyleth still lived as the controlling essence of the Ark, and Lolo had grown quite old, but his Danan heritage kept him alive, for at least possibly a few more centuries.. But all wasn't for naught, as the descendants of the dead had grown and flourished like everything else. Gafu still rotated souls' destinies, as it had done since its beginning.

Of course, after these 4,000 years, something was still on the Four's minds... he eventual return of the destructive shadow beings of the heavens... The cycle that had been broken four millennia before, as bad as it was, was meant to strengthen the next race to come along... But had the world grown enough naturally to counter that return?

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be very long until it was time to find out.... The seal had weakened much over the 24 millennia it had been around since the Four Greats stopped them. And this seal was about to break, the stress of the awaiting evil beyond it was cracking it....

17 days til the anniversary of Mitora's defeat... It appeared the cruel cycle was never truly broken.... Just warded off... And that's when the seal on the evil broke. With a horrifying shriek, something burst from the break in the seal, and towards the world.... It was payback time. The Four Greats may be dead, but their successors were now the target....

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Mt. Delphi

A figure stood atop the Tuhla Temple, looking up into the night sky, the new moon the jadebearers had created to replace the one that had been destroyed gleaming on his armor. A red headband looped through his spiky blonde hair, and the red jewel in his right eye socket also gleamed... Scion no longer wore that eyepatch, the Life Jade was like a natural eye, he could see perfectly. And he sensed something....

"Trouble's coming...." he said to himself and looked upwards.

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Riza's Tower, Near Karn

The heir of Meifa, the Great who represented love and nature looked over the balcony in her beautiful tower. The light green gem glittered in her forehead thanks to the moonlight... Her long, red hair flowed about in the wind. This was Riza, the holder of the Holy Jade, and the protector of the environment... But her body felt twingey... something was wrong, something bad was coming soon...

"Looks like a new adventure." she sighed, grabbing her armor, bow, arrows, and rapier and walking down the tower stairs. She headed off towards Babel, to get a boat to Danelf... But first the forest awaited her... And not every forest creature respected her.

****

Gafu, Shumisen, Underworld

A figure stood near Gafu's main hub, his long billowing cape floating around in a nonexistent breeze... He sighed, adjusting his glasses and running his fingers through his greenish blue hair. Surlent, the holder of the blue Resurrect Jade, the walker between life and death, and now seer of the underworld and Gafu's guardian... Gafu suddenly boiled, the souls seemed to panic and hectically fly about within.

"Wh-what's happening to Gafu?" Surlent asked himself in shock, although within himself, he already knew the answer. Something bad was on its way. And Gafu feared for itself.

****

The Ark Ramyleth

"Dune... I feel something very strange and frightening..." Ramyleth relayed to the thief, and holder of the Jade of Death and Knowledge "And I don't like it."

"I can feel it, too, Ramyleth." Dune sighed pushing his goggles back up on his cap "I think... THEY'RE coming.... Mitora warned us about this... and now they've come to settle a 24 millennia old score... Get us back to the surface.... it's time for I and the others to have a talk... It is time to prepare."

"I feel the presence of evil energy coming and shooting past...." Ramyleth said was something rocked the Ark for a moment... "And it's still descending... towards Ompross."

"Scion! We need to get to him, quickly."

**__**

Only 16 days remain til the 4000th anniversary of the defeat of Mitora...


	2. Day 1, Part 1: Malevol Arrives!

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Rudra no Hihou

Return of the Dark Ones

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Mt. Delphi

Day soon broke in the world, the bright shine of the moon had gone and now the glow of the morning sunrise had come. Scion still stood on top of he ruins, concern throughout his mind. He could feel something coming, and he somehow absolutely knew it was something big, bad, and dangerous... And that's when he saw something streak downwards to the base of the mountain, along with a terrifying howl as it descended.

"What in the hell?" he muttered to himself, and proceeded to bound down the mountain. Scion was not obligated to slow down at the moment. His armor clanged as he did so, his hair bouncing about. Finally, he stopped, now at the entrance of the cave that led into the mountain. The sunrise-soaked Ompross City was a little further ahead.... When the whole adventure to stop the new Rudra from annihilating humanity happened, Ompross had been a small, quaint little seaside village... It had grown quite considerably since then... Scion had to protect the city from whatever had arrived...

Before Scion, laid a relatively big impact crater of some kind, obviously caused by what had just fallen from the skies.... There was still some smoke left from the impact.... but... It looked awfully thick to be such.... Scion held his hand on the hilt of his Apocalypse Blade, waiting for the next turn of events to arrive.

The "smoke" was now converging into something, and soon became a dark mist, then a sludge, and then it seemed to solidify into something's prone form.

"Alright, you.... Stand up before you get a thrashin'." Scion spoke to it.

He was replied to by a growl. A growl that sent shivers even through this brave hero's spine...

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M-m-maybe it's just some random space creature! Nothing evil, just something feral.... It did just crash land on the planet, after all, it has a reason to be snippy... "Please, just stand up...."

"Heh heh heh." it responded.... "Very well....I'm probably leaving you wondering, hmm?"

"You speak our language?!"

"Of courssssse."

And then, it stood.... If that growl hadn't been chilling enough to tell the creature's self.... This certainly would. It was about the same size as an average Giant, but quite a bit lankier.... Its skin or fur was a pitch ebony black, it had long arms with large 3-clawed talons on each hand, and armor on the forearm along with a small gauntlet on the hand, a red crystal embedded within it. On its chest was an odd yellow symbol Scion had not laid eyes on to before. Its upper arms had a studded band on each, and its shoulders had some sort of plate armor on them... And then there was its head.... Large, broad jaws filled with rows of sharp teeth, small beady crimson eyes, and a massive amount of quills protruding from the back, and a short, thick neck. It had quite a few Reptilian features, but there was no way it was of that race. Its legs also stood out, with two wicked clawed toes and a claw sticking out of the top of its ankle. Its lower legs were armored. It also had a long, snakelike tail. The only garments it wore was a large red loincloth, that symbol on its chest was also on it. There were some armor plates covering the hips as well.

"Who or WHAT are you?!" Scion questioned, trying his best not to quake in his boots.

"Ho ho. Oooh hoo hoo... You won't live long enough to find out!"

And that's when Scion's courage returned to him, and he brandished his sword.

"Let's see you try, ya freak!"

That was enough to get a response, the creature unleashed a swipe of its claws, Scion jumped back to avoid it, and then slashed with his sword.... It parried with its claws, and headbutted him backwards. He rushed in again, taking another swipe, but the creature simply stepped aside with great speed, and slashed again, Scion ducked under this, and swiped again, this time, grazing the creature's flesh, even though it was only a small amount, it was enough for the creature to reel back. It stomped the ground, and Scion jumped over the resulting shockwave, and slashed again, but the creature batted him away before his sword reached close enough.

The creature took this moment to mouth something, flailing its arms about and bowing its head.

__

Uh oh!

Scion had no time to react before the creature finished casting its mantra! From seemingly nowhere, a meteor came crashing down, the impact explosion knocking the warrior for a loop. And by Meifa, that HURT! Scion quickly regained his bearings and responded with a mantra of his own.... Thunder cracked, and blasted the creature.... But, to Scion's astonishment, the creature didn't even flinch. And it quickly replied, with a quick slash.... Scion wasn't able to move in time, and he got slashed, and he fell to the ground... he looked for any wounds, there were none, but the slash had cut into his armor!

Scion snarled, jumping back up... Now he was really really mad. He slashed not once, but twice with his sword, giving the creature twin, but very shallow gashes into its chest... But as expected, it did draw blood... of a navy blue variety! The creature swiped with its tail, making Scion leap a few feet backwards, but that was all the creature needed to cast its next spell, and a shocking one at that, confusing Scion, who flailed around, trying to attack, but missing his target by a mile. He regained his bearings only to be hit by that meteor attack again... This creature seemed to be one proficient in Thunder and Void spells. He cast a Wind mantra, hoping it would be just what he needed.... Searing gusts of wind hit the creature, pushing it back a bit. The creature whipped its hand out and Scion was blasted by a doozy of a Thunder mantra, a large energy beam. And then it backhanded him, and in his now quite weakened state, was sent flying backwards onto the ground... He tried to get up, but he couldn't move.

The creature laughed.

"For the successor of Saizou, you sure are a weakling, Scion!"

"What... How did you know my name... and how did you know about Saizou, and my succeeding him? Arrgh..."

"I've watched all the events on this world unfold for nearly twenty four thousand years! Can you believe it, twenty four... THOUSAND! Hahahaha! I bet you can pretty much guess my affiliation now, boy!"

"Oh no... you're one of... THEM, aren't you?! One of the beings who the Four Greats and the warrior Vilshnan battled and sealed... The ones that caused the Greats to act out the Cycle of Destruction and Regeneration... The ones I and my friends have been waiting and preparing for.... The ones Mitora warned us of.... My feelings were... right."

"Very observant, brilliant, and fascinating, Scion."

Another laugh.

"As such, you deserve a reward... You will not die.... just yet! Enjoy your second chance.... For it will be your last.... As for an answer to your question about my identity, I'm sure you want my name..."

"What...?"

"I am Malevol. You will soon earn the right to loathe and fear that name very much! We will meet again, Scion.... just don't be such a sucky opponent next time!"

With a growl, Malevol turned his back to Scion, raised out his arms, and vanished. Scion lay there, trying to regain his bearings... and that's when the taste of a remedy herb came to his senses.... He gained just enough strength to jump back up. He looked forward, to see a very familiar backwards red hat, coat and pair of goggles.

"Dune! Sure, NOW you get here now that Malevol kicked my ass and left me here! But thanks anyway."

"Hey, I tried getting here as fast as I could, alright?" Dune scoffed.

Both of them then laughed aloud.

"Anyway, they've finally come.... Well one of them anyway..... They aren't exactly the prettiest creatures. The guy's name was Malevol... Packs a mean punch, just look what he did to my armor!"

"He's probably just the first to arrive... I don't doubt there will be more. We need to get ahold of Surlent and Riza, a-sap!"

"Come on, we'll go through the temple."

"Right. Lemme just get the Ark into a safe place."

"Alright. I need to heal up after that battle anyway!"

With that, they headed off to the airship.

****

Space

Once again, the unsealed dimensional rift began to ripple and swirl about... And as before, something shot out from it, followed by another. One landed on the New Moon... The other continued hurtling towards the planet., but instead stopped short of the atmosphere, and floated there.

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Where to go, where to go....

It thought for a little bit, and soon felt the power of something on the surface that wasn't Malevol.... It figured who it was quickly.

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Riza, the successor of Meifa! This'll be fun!

With that, it flew down towards Riza's location.

**__**

To be Continued


	3. Day 1, Part 2: Phear Phactor

Rudra No Hihou

Return of the Dark Ones

Rem Forest

Riza hummed a little tune as she trekked through the beautiful and lush forest. Four thousand years had done the place some good, the forest now covered much of the Northern Continent's eastern side. The forest was kept trimmed near the city areas, but other than that, it continued to grow and expand. The sounds of the fores, the babbling of the brooks, the entire atmosphere was just so calm and inviting.

And then, she heard it, a rustling in the trees. Probably just some animal wandering through the underbrush, she thought as she wandered onwards, over one of the bridges. She heard splashes of several pairs of feet in the water, but when she looked back... there was nothing there.

"Odd." she said, shrugging and continuing.

More rustling. Getting closer... and closer... AND CLOSER. This gave Riza enough incentive to place her hand on the hilt of her rapier. But she continued to walk onward, but the rustling didn't stop. As she walked, she could have sworn she heard a chatter. It could only belong to one thing in this place... 

And that's when she whipped out the blade, and swiped, just in time. A shriek, the sound of a falling body, and a spurt of blood. On the ground now laid a dead monkey with red-orange fur. Riza knew that these guys came in groups... And then, four more burst through the trees, howling and hooting, their claws ready to strike. One leapt at Riza, she ducked, she mouthed something, and the creature burst into flame, shrieking as it burned to death. Two more came at her, leaping on her and began to bite and claw at her and her armor.

"Get OFF of me, you disgusting apes!" she yelled, and thrust forward, throwing one off of her, the second one grabbed hold of her hair. She snarled in pain, and ran the hair-puller through, it shrieked and lay silent. Then, she began to cast a bigger, more potent spell... But her attackers saw that it was futile, and ran off, scared back from whence they came. She stopped the casting, wiped her blade off on the grass, and walked onward.

After a bit of continuing, she reached a burial plot in the forest. She sighed, and went up to the largest central tombstone and plopped a flower in front of it.

"I'm here again, my dearest..." she said, her voice calm and grim. "It seems like I'm gonna be going off on another adventure... may have to save existence again. You know, more of the usual. Goodbye, again, my sweet."

With that, she continued on, and looked back for a moment.... 

The tombstone read "Garlyle I, 3983-4100". The plot had been made in the spot that the two had run into each other for the first time, when he was on the run from soldiers from the town... or nowadays, the grand city of Babel. That, of course was her next destination. She planned to take the first boat to Ompross she could get on to go find Scion and the others. She was almost out of the forest, when she heard whispering.

"Riza..." it called.

"Wh-who's there?!" she squeaked.

"Riiizaaaaa...." it hissed.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm not afraid of you!" she yelled, turning around. Nothing there. She sighed, and turned around, and then stopped to see a figure standing a few feet away. She knew the person instantly. "G-garlyle! But, you're..."

"Dead, Riza?" he hissed "You're right, I am dead... I need to tell you something important."

"What?" she stammered.

"I.. Hate you, Riza...I always did, still do... hahahaha... Only reason I hung around was 'cuz you were SO hot... Oh yeah, and after awhile, because you were ssssooo good in bed, dearie. Just a cheap little WHORE! Whore whore whore! Ha ha ha ha haaah!"

"Shut... up. You... impostor. I'm not playing your sick game, whoever you are!"

"Well, damn. It appears you're actually smart after all."

"Show your true self! Culgan.. Hauzhen... WHOMEVER!"

'Garlyle' scowled in disgust at the mentioning of Hauzhen.

"Me...? That disgusting, moldy crystal ball?!" he shrieked, very offended.

"Then, WHO ARE YOU?!"

'Garlyle' laughed for a moment, then giggled... That voice changing to a more feminine, menacing tone. He turned black, then expanded upwards, getting much bigger. Finally, the full figure stood. It was a woman... or what resembled a woman. Tall, three large spikes jutting from the back of her head, broad, toothy jaws, red eyes, a mess of tangled black hair... She wore no top, but she did wear a green dress that went down almost to the ground, if nor for those primal, two toed, clawed feet of hers. Her chest wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. Her skin was completely black, and her eyes were small, red and looking straight at Riza.

"Hello, Riza. I am..."

"You are...?"

"Your worst nightmares and fears come true... I am what makes you awaken at night in a cold sweat, I'm the one who gives you the shakes. I am called Phobia. I know what you fear, Riza... Would you like to see what I know? Come and get me, I know you're angry... furious... but oh so frightened, like the little mouse you are. Come to Phobia so she can destroy your entire being..."

Riza was getting sick of Phobia's taunting and teasing. Indeed, she was angry... but Phobia was right.. She was frightened, too. Phobia seemed to ooze fear and nightmares. She thrust her rapier forward, attempting to stab Phobia's belly, pull the sword down and gut her like a fish. But when the blade was just inches from Phobia, Riza couldn't continue, the personification of fear she was stopping Riza in her tracks. And she was smacked backwards by Phobia's large three-fingered hand.

She crashed, right into the tree behind her, jarring her spine and bringing pain to her head. She stood up, and cast a healing spell on herself, just in time, as Phobia cast her own spell, the fabric of the netherworld opened by clawed hands, a pillar of dark energy enveloping Riza. She barely survived that, and healed again. Then, Phobia did something more sinister, a sudden burst of black sludge materializing and hitting Riza... Pollution! And her without a single Purifier.

She tried more to attack with her blade, but oncoming fear distracted her, Phobia now batting her around like a rag doll. Finally, Riza crashed to the ground, barely alive. Fear had overtaken her so much, she couldn't even grab an herb to heal with.

"Time to say goodbye, little one." Phobia laughed, and began to cast a horrific spell, only to have it stopped.... By Malevol himself.

"Phobia, no." he growled "The master said we can't kill them immediately... "

"But, Malevol!" Phobia protested.

"No, Phobia, my dear. We're only supposed to have a little fun with them first. We aren't supposed to kill them for at least another week!"

"Alright, but you owe me, Mal." she said "You owe me big time."

"....Again?! But we just did it before we came here... Really, is sex all you think about?!"

"Hey, just some extra-curricular activity, Mal. Don't get all bent out of shape. Let's get outta here and leave her for the creatures."

"Alright." Malevol answered, his head nuzzling Phobia's shoulder.

With that, they both disappeared to wherever.

Riza laid there, nearly dead. She soon passed out.

But just a few minutes later, someone came across Riza's body.

"Is she... dead?" asked a voice.

"No, she's alive, barely."replied a second.

"Think we should help?"

"Of course we're gonna help her. We've gotta do something about this– Holy."

"What is it?!"

"Look at her head! Don't you realize who this is, you nit?!"

"The Goddess. But... what coulda been strong enough to have done this?"

"I don't wanna find out. Let's get her back to our place in Babel."

"Okay!"

To be continued.


	4. Day 1, Part 3: Prophecy

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Rudra no Hihou: Return of the Dark Ones

Chapter 3

"No matter how many times we've gone through here over the last four centuries, this place always gives me the creeps…" Dune stated as he and Scion walked into the odd, organic bowels of the Netherworld, the catacombs of the grand tower of Shumisen.

"You still haven't grown out of it yet?" Scion said with a laugh "Even when I went through here the first time to get to Gomorrah, this place didn't scare me."

"Tch, you act all tough, but I know you're really just a softie under all that armor."

Scion gave a glance at Dune, and then jabbed him with his elbow.

"Ow! Okay, you're not a softie, you're tough, you're strong!"

"That's better."

Dune sighed and shook his head as they continued their walk. It wasn't long before they reached the deepest chamber of the place, in all of its odd gray, cancer like glory. The only real light in the place was the odd, red mushroom like growth in the back, which bubbled with the bright blue and green of life essence. However, it was a little odd that Surlent wasn't to be seen anywhere.

"Well, Scion, he's not here, obviously. We wasted all our time just coming down here for a lot of nothing."

"Oh, shut up. We'll just have to wait for him to come back…"

"Right. Uh… how long do you think that will take?"

"I have no idea. You know how he can be…"

"What if he's already out there looking for… them? We could have missed him by just seconds."

"You worry too much," Scion answered as he stepped up to the glory of Gafu "What's waiting for a few minutes or hours? It's not like we're on some time limit."

"Have you already forgotten the destroyers? Who knows what they'll do if we just stand around here and wait!"

"Tch, once we all get together we'll send 'em back to where they came from."

"Cocky as ever, I see," a voice suddenly rang out from the dark.

Both of them jumped several feet into he air.

The folds of a cloak were suddenly illuminated by Gafu's light as the figure of Surlent came forward.

"There you are! Geez, don't scare us like that again!" Dune yelled.

"Us? You mean you, right, Dune? I wasn't scared at all." Scion responded, flashing a fake grin.

"I think you went in the air a little higher than Dune did. I can tell those sorts of things, you know. Twenty point five centimeters, to be exact…"

"Not all of us can be a smarty-pants like you, Surlent," Dune responded "But yeah, I think he DID jump higher than me, ha ha!"

Once again, Scion jabbed Dune with his elbow.

"Calm down, both of you. Now, could you tell me what's going on? Have THEY really arrived again? Gafu went insane a few hours ago… I thought that might have been the cause, but I wasn't sure."

"Oh yeah, they've arrived, or at least one of them did," Dune answered, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"One?"

"Yeah, Scion ran into it when it arrived…. The thing kicked his ass."

"Well, I still put up a good fight, nonetheless. Malevol just had the advantage that time, is all."

"Malevol?" Surlent asked, tilting his head.

"That's what the thing called itself, yeah… Strong, tall, ugly, hell of a fighter and spellcaster… I'm not exactly a magician. That's you an' Riza. If the four of us were fighting him, using the power of our Jades, we probably coulda taken him down easy."

"Don't be too sure of that… hatred is a strong feeling…"

"Hatred? What does that have to do with anything?" Dune stared.

"Malevol, Dune. Shortened version of the term 'Malevolent'?"

"Malevolent, malevolence, hatred." Scion began "That… thing was the embodiment of hatred! I could have sworn I felt hate coursing through 'im… I may have been right."

"Aha…" Dune said, drifting off into his own mind suddenly… and suddenly, he went limp.

"Dune?" said Surlent

"Dune!" Scion yelled.

Suddenly, he snapped back.

"Hatred, fear, anguish, death, and nothingness… The banes of existence…"

Scion and Surlent looked at Dune, quite confused.

"The manifestations of these things will come, and they will enact the end of All…"

"What's he blabbering about?" Scion asked, quite surprised by this sudden event.

"The Jades, they will stop these beings, held by the chosen ones, at the height of evolution, the true inheritors of the Gods…"

"The Jades…? He must be talking about us!" Surlent stated "But if there's more than hatred… and if Malevol is hatred, who are Fear, Anguish, Death, and Nothingness?"

"But whether the destroyers or the chosen ones will be victorious, it is unknown… The Gods must chance it, they must create the chosen…"

And with that, Dune snapped back into the real world.

"Okay, what the hell?" Dune asked, rubbing his head "What's going on, and what's with this sudden headache?"

He turned around and looked at the other two, their mouths agape.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that!"

"Well, you went limp and then started babbling, first off." Scion replied.

"That's not all, though," Surlent began "It was talk about the Jades, the Eternal Engine, the destroyers, stuff pertaining to us and them…"

"Okay… I see. I don't know how that happened, though…"

"Your Jade probably reacted to Scion talking about Malevol… And triggered the knowledge that was given to you…"

"If Riza hears of this, she's gonna yell at me. I promised specifically NOT to use the knowledge at all."

"You couldn't control it, though, it would seem. She'd understand."

"I hope so… You know how she can be sometimes."

"True," Scion said, looking around.

"Speaking of Riza, where is she?" Surlent asked.

"Dunno," Dune replied "I and Scion decided to check up on you first. She's probably still at her tower or someplace close. She couldn't have gotten too far."

"Thing is, though, it's already turning nighttime up on the surface… We should probably just rest for now and start out in the morning. Riza should be okay without us…"

The other two nodded.

****

City of Babel

"She awake yet?"

"No, she's still out cold. Whatever got to her really did a number on the poor woman. If whatever attacked could take her down, who knows what it could do to regular people like you and me.

"Well, she'll either wake up eventually, or she'll die. I hope for the former…"

"As do I, Brother."

"It's getting dark already. Probably should get dinner started."

"Indeed. Hey, maybe she'll wake up from the smell of food?"

"Maybe. Only way to find out is to start cooking!"

"Yes. Let's get to work!"

But Riza kept on sleeping, through the rest of the night.

****

End Day 1

To Be Continued…


End file.
